This one time at rabbit hunting camp, I was hunting with a semi auto .22 rifle, I shot a few bunnies, took the clip out, worked the action, looked in the chamber – clear – released the action and walked back to the ute.
When I got home and had cleaned the rabbits and put them in the fridge I got the gun out of the ute and went to put it away in the bedroom, it was after dark. I opened the safe, worked the action again, pointed the gun at the floor and pulled the trigger…. BANG! It went off.
When I ejected the casing with a bit of help from a kitchen knife I discovered it was an old CAC bullet that was very corroded. The end was a dark green, this is why I didnt see the casing when it was in the chamber, the bullet was jammed due to corrosion, I went through the .22 ammo box and found a few more loose CAC rounds that were also corroded and took the projectiles out and threw them in the rubbish.
Luckily I was pointing the gun in a safe direction when I pulled the trigger before putting it away. Lesson learned – make sure I see the empty chamber when checking a gun, dont keep old ammo.
